Wi-Fi Registry Settings
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8/28/2008
The registry stores information that is necessary to configure the system for applications and hardware devices. The registry also stores information that the operating system continually references during operation.
Security Settings
The following table shows the named values for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WZCSVC\Parameters registry key.
| Value : type | Description |
|---|---|
DisableWPA: REG_DWORD |
Determines whether or not Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is enabled. Default setting is 0. Enables WPA. 1 - Disables WPA. |
Wi-Fi Adapter Identification Settings
The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Drivers\WLAN registry key holds identifying information about the device's Wi-Fi adapter. Setting this information guarantees that the platform can detect and control the Wi-Fi adapter, even when an intermediate driver is also present.
The following table shows the named values for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Drivers\WLAN registry key.
| Value : type | Description |
|---|---|
AdapterName: REG_SZ |
Specifies the name of the existing Wi-Fi adapter in the device, <Wi-Fi Interface Name>. The name is case-sensitive. The <Wi-Fi Interface Name> value should match the interface name specified by HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\<Wi-Fi Interface Name>, and the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\<Wi-Fi Interface Name>\Wireless must be set to 1. Otherwise, the device may not be able to recognize or appropriately manage the specified Wi-Fi adapter. For more information, see the "Network Scanning Settings" section of this topic. |
Network Scanning Settings
The following table shows the named values for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\WiFi registry key:
| Value : type | Description |
|---|---|
ScanInterval: REG_DWORD |
Specifies the interval, in seconds, between scans that check for a more preferred Wi-Fi network. These scans occur only when the device is disconnected. The default value is 60 seconds (3c). |
The following table shows the named values for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\<Wi-Fi Interface Name> registry key:
| Value : type | Description |
|---|---|
Wireless: REG_DWORD |
Used by the UI to quickly determine whether the interface is WiFi or if it is not. The default setting is 0. |
The following table shows the named values for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ControlPanel\WiFi registry key:
| Value : type | Description |
|---|---|
UIDelayAfterBoot: REG_DWORD |
Specifies the interval, in seconds, to wait before displaying scan notifications for Wi-Fi networks on the Control Panel at boot time. This registry value is configurable and is defined in the OEMMisc package. If this key is not set, then the interval is assumed to be 10 seconds. The default value is 10 seconds (0A). The maximum allowed value is 60 seconds. If this registry entry is set to a value that is greater than 60, then a value of 60 is used. |
For background scanning (and automatic connection to available networks), the OEM should set ScanInterval appropriately, balancing battery life against the device's perceived responsiveness to network availability. For ScanInterval, the recommended value to reduce power consumption is 180 seconds.
Note
To find Wi-Fi networks, go to the Wi-Fi Control Panel. Scanning occurs at 60 second intervals while the Wi-Fi control panel is visible, regardless of the value set for ScanInterval. However, the Windows Mobile powered device does not use this scan to connect to discovered networks.
Registry settings for WPA2
The following registry settings apply to HKLM\Comm\80211i\PMKCache\:
| Value : type | Description |
|---|---|
Enabled: DWORD |
The default setting is 1. This value determines the enable/disable status of PMK caching. |
MaxEntries: DWORD |
The default setting is 100. This value is the maximum number of entries that cache will store. |
CacheTimeoutMs: DWORD |
The default setting is 8 hours, in milliseconds. This value determines the maximum length of time for keeping an entry in the cache. |
PreAuthenticationEnabled |
The default setting is 0. This value determines the enable/disable status of Preauth. |
OpportunisticPMKEnabled |
The default setting is 0. This value determines the enable/disable status of the Opportunistic PMK cache algorithm. |